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Simple Cinnamon Raisin Granola

March 23, 2011 by 8 Comments

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I’ve been thinking that I should give you an update on fitness and things not food related. I realized that my posts have been very food heavy and not fitness related in a while.

But first, granola!


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On my quest for a simple and low calorie granola, I came up with this one. It is mostly oat based with less dried fruit than some of my other versions. It’s crispy and crunchy, and a great addition to yogurt as breakfast or a snack, or to munch on by itself. Stored in a container, it will last quite a while.

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Cinnamon Raisin Granola

Ingredients:

  • 2 C old fashioned oats
  • 1/2 C unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 C almonds (mixed whole and slivered)
  • 1 T flax meal
  • 2 T applesauce
  • 2 T apple juice
  • 1/4 C brown rice syrup (can sub honey)
  • 1 C raisins
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

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Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350*.
  • Mix dry ingredients and spices in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula.
  • In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, apple juice and brown rice syrup. Stir with a spoon to incorporate.
  • Pour over oat mixture and stir well.
  • Spray cooking spray on baking sheet and pour granola on top. Spread evenly to cover baking sheet.
  • Bake for 45 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes.
  • Once cooled, store in an airtight container.

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One thing I might change is to not bake the raisins with the granola and add them in when it’s done. They expanded in the oven and then came back down to size, but tasted a little more crispy than soft. I would also add more cinnamon for a more vibrant flavor, maybe 1 T cinnamon.

I really liked the crisp-ness of the oats without the brown rice cereal which I use sometimes in granola. The coconut toasted nicely in the oven, and the flavor came from nutmeg and cinnamon.

A fitness update:

Well, if you’ve been following along, you might remember that I’ve been having pains along my right leg for quite a while. No one likes a complainer, so I just stopped writing about it. I’ve been doing some physical therapy, got a cortisone shot, had an x-ray, have stopped running for a few weeks, and continue to stretch and not do too much on my foot. My right ankle area is strained, which should get better with time, and my right IT Band continues to be a booger only when I run.

To make up for not running, I have been walking more, doing the elliptical, stair master, jumping rope, etc. I still do CrossFit two days per week which is still the most intense workouts I do. I would like to start swimming again, but for now I enjoy being outside since the weather is nice. When it gets really hot, I’ll want to get in the pool again. It could be tomorrow when it’s mid-80s, who knows.

I am glad that 2010 was the year of racing for me, because my right leg will not have it right now. Even though the half marathon in December was what really triggered some major lingering pains, I am very glad I accomplished it! And I’ll deal with my leg over time.

Until then, I don’t have many fitness related goals, except to keep exercising and sweating and challenging myself. I have some CrossFit related goals, like to get faster and hustle and to continually lift heavier, so those are good to work toward.

It has been quite a bummer to not be able to run the distances I want, but it could be worse.

 

Filed Under: Breakfast, Exercise, Injuries, Snacks · Tagged With: , , , ,

Oh my aching leg

March 2, 2011 by 5 Comments

First, welcome to March! I know it’s March 2 by now, but I wanted to post the pizza yesterday, so my “welcome to March” post is one day late.

Blog stats:

I want you to know that every month on the first day, I look at my blog stats for the month prior and tell myself that I’ll never top it, and every month since I started the blog, I have topped it. March makes my 11th month of blogging! I especially said to myself that February couldn’t be as good as January because there are three fewer days! And January had all those January joiners that disappear.

But I did it, mostly thanks to links on Food Gawker, Taste Spotting, and Oh She Glows.

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Regardless, thank you for visiting. I always appreciate your visit whether you comment to say hello or not.

March 2 Superstition:

Moving along to a random fact about today, March 2! Did you know that on March 2, 1992 I broke my left elbow. It was a bad break and I had surgery that night to put two metal pins in my arm. I had a pink cast for a month and even went to Disney World with my cast, and the characters signed it. That was pretty cool! I was 8 years old. I still have the scars, but the pins were removed.

The continuing joke was that every year on March 2 my mom would make the same dinner she made that year because she worked all afternoon on a great dinner and then we couldn’t have it and it went to waste. However, 19 years later it’s actually not healthy to eat noodle kugel, salmon croquettes, and more I forget for a weeknight meal. So I just acknowledge the memory! And this is why Jeffrey calls me a major weirdo sometimes.

Oh my aching leg:

And next up, I wanted to update you on my right leg and some therapy I’ve been doing.

A brief summary so far: In December, I ran my first half marathon. I had lingering IT Band pains on my right leg leading up to the race, then I ran through it, and then I took the month of December off of running because it hurt. In January I got it x-rayed and there wasn’t anything major wrong, and in February I was starting to run consistently at around 2-3 miles. I also did some rapid recovery therapy at a place called Airrosti that I wrote about here that aimed to massage and stretch the muscle in a way that just stretching or resting could not do.

That’s where I left off. I have now gone to three sessions of Airrosti and I really believe it has helped. I have also been doing more stretches that focus on my hip, groin and IT Band to strengthen surrounding muscles. I will probably continue to go back one or two more times. The doctor uses her thumbs to bruise pretty bad the fascia around the muscle. The bruising isn’t on purpose, it’s kind of a side effect of massaging the muscle. Then it’s covered with KT Tape, which I’m very familiar with, to aid in recovery.

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However, two Sundays ago I decided to run at Memorial Park, a popular 3-mile loop. I had been so happy that I could actually run outside and had successfully run over 3 miles around our neighborhood. I have really missed out on running in great weather since it will soon be in the 80s, 90s and 100s until November! I ran one lap at the park and walked a second. I totaled about 6.5 miles on that day of running and walking.

The next day, the inside of my right ankle start to hurt a lot. The pain wasn’t unfamiliar, but it usually goes away. It was probably from overuse and basically too much too fast, even though I only ran 3.5ish and walked 3. I just hadn’t been on my feet for 6.5 miles in over two months. The pain didn’t go away and really hurt whenever I would walk the dog, go up and down stairs, and pretty much put weight on it. I continued to exercise that week but not run or walk. I did three days of yoga (that is a lot for me!), two days of Crossfit, and one day of elliptical/cross training. I also iced the spot often and continued my leg stretches.

On Monday (two days ago and 8 days after I ran/walked), I went to my podiatrist and got a cortisone shot in the spot. Ummm hello pain and numbness! I have never done that before, but my right foot was numb for 12 hours! It finally went away in the middle of the night, and now I’m waiting to see if the pain goes away too. So far so good, but it’s a little too soon to tell. Cortisone is not a steroid but can speed up recovery.

(I think this is the right term but I’m not positive. That’s the spot where the pain was.)

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That’s the story so far. Luckily it was not anything too serious, and pretty much just a strained muscle.

Back to recipes tomorrow!

Filed Under: Injuries, Running · Tagged With: ,

Three Things Thursday

February 17, 2011 by 2 Comments

First things first, some blog announcements…

  • If you’d like to get my blog posts to your email box daily, my RSS feed wasn’t working but it is now. Just look over to the right where it says “subscribe” and enter your email address.
  • You can also add me to your Google Reader if you use that tool. (And if not, why? It’s the best for keeping up with blogs.)
  • I updated my About Me page a few weeks ago, but just noticed it somehow defaulted back to the old version. It has been re-updated to answer more questions and give you some more info about how I became interested in cooking, blogging, etc. If you have questions, let me know. Would love to add them.

1. Oatmeal Parfait

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This was a fun way to eat hot oatmeal. I made it pretty in a tall glass with a surprise toppings layer in between.

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 C Steel cut oats
  • 1/5 T flax meal
  • 1/2 C water
  • 1/3 C almond milk
  • 1 T raisins
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • few shakes chia seeds
  • dash salt
  • 1/2 banana mashed
  • topped with coconut and pumpkin butter

Instructions:

  • Bring water to a simmering boil, add oats and flax and whisk. Add milk and whisk. Add rest of ingredients and let heat and bubble until thick.
  • Pour half in a glass, then add toppings of choice, then the other half of the oats, and more toppings.
  • A fun way to not run out of toppings! I also really like pumpkin butter because it is a sweet and savory jam like consistency but fewer calories and fat than peanut butter and adds a great taste for the morning. And the coconut looks like confetti.

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2. Leftovers and new placemats

We have had some great leftovers around our house this week, and leftovers for lunch or dinner are delish. This plate has hummus from Sunday (so good), cranberry sauce, potatoes, green beans, and 6 bites of steak from Monday night (really good too but not a lot of meat leftover!), steamed spinach, tomato and carrots.

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Notice my new placemats? I went to World Market, a store I used to think was boring, but it was so fun. I contained myself and only bought two placemats (they’re reversible to it’s like two designs for one), and some yellow cloth napkins. We have two sets of placemats, but one is dry clean only, so that’s no fun to get dirty. And since we are only two people usually, I didn’t want to buy a whole set. They had great dinnerware and serving pieces there!

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3. Airrosti

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I want to spend a whole post about this new therapy I’m trying, but for now, check out my taped leg. I am doing a few sessions at a place called Airrosti that is kind of a hybrid of physical therapy with chiropractor to promote rapid recovery of muscles and injuries. We are working specifically on my right IT Band (also blogged here) and my leg will pretty much be bruised until I complete treatment. Like real bruised.

I have been two times so far, and my running is improving. The hope is that the doctor can heal my pain by manually stretching the muscle with her thumbs in a way that stretching and resting cannot do.
This is just a preview, and I will spend more time sharing this story when I run more and see results. I am like my own science experiment.
If you see me walking around with gigantic bruises running down my leg, Jeffrey didn’t beat me.
See you tomorrow!
Filed Under: Breakfast, Injuries · Tagged With: , ,

See Marci Run

February 8, 2011 by 3 Comments

As you probably know, I have a difficult relationship with running. It’s true that I completed my first half marathon two months ago, but it’s also true that it took a very, very long time for my legs to want to trot again. Leading up to the race, my IT Bands were giving me some problems, and I always have some sort of lingering leg pains.

I went to a doctor, got both legs x-ray’d at the knee, and started some at-home physical therapy stretches. I didn’t run at all the whole month of December after the race (Dec. 5). And in January I started to jog on the treadmill but would stop when it hurt, usually around 1-1.5 miles. Slowly, I have increased my mileage to 2.5 miles straight. I am so happy with positive progression, even though 2.5 used to be something I would not get excited about. I continue to stretch and foam roll, and hope that the miles will continue to increase.

Since I’m doing my running on the treadmill only (because I don’t want to get stuck outside somewhere in pain), I’ve been playing with speed and incline. When I ran 2.5 miles straight, I also ran it faster than I do outside. I’m using this short-distance opportunity to try to get faster too. I vary my speeds between 5.2 to start and up to 6.0 for short periods. I try to average 5.5-5.6, which is plenty fast for me.

I also did a walk/run workout on the treadmill which made the time really go by. Here’s what I did:

  • 0-5 minutes: flat, 3.5 speed warm-up
  • 5-10 minutes: 4.0 incline, 4.0 speed
  • 10-15 minutes: flat incline, 5.2-5.6 speed

Repeat two more times totally 45 minutes. That’s a great cardio workout for me with plenty of time spent on flat surfaces, an incline, and with speed. It really goes by fast, and it’s easy to remember. No need to carry around a crinkly piece of paper, which I’ve done before.

I am not getting my hopes up that I’ll be running any long distance soon, but I am glad to see improvement, and I’ll continue stretching, icing, and hopefully running!

What’s your current ailment?

Filed Under: Injuries, Running · Tagged With: ,

The case of the stubborn shIT Band

January 14, 2011 by 6 Comments

I guest posted on Brittany’s blog called Eating Bird Food yesterday about how to get started with Crossfit. Go check it out here.

IT Band Stretches

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I finally went to a sports medicine doctor to see what is wrong with my leg. If you’re just tuning in, ever since the half marathon on December 5, my right leg hasn’t fully recovered and I get major pain after just one mile on the outside of my knee. I kept hoping it would heal over time, but after a month, I decided it’s time to get it checked out, guessing that it was probably an aggravated IT Band, lovingly referred to as the shIT Band. I can also do everything else without pain, like walk, CrossFit, jump rope, ellipticals, stairmaster, etc. Just not run.

I had an x-ray of both knees done and the doctor concluded that it is probably just strained and tight and needs some physical therapy. There wasn’t anything abnormal on the x-ray, except some extra fluid but I don’t really know what that means. Right now I don’t want to spend the time (3x/week) or money going to a physical therapist, so I am going to try to do the stretches and rehab myself. The doctor gave me packets about ITBS (illiotibial band syndrome) that have 10 stretches to do. He says that I should be better in a few weeks if I do the stretches like I’m supposed to. I also have a prescription for anti-inflammatories that I haven’t filled but I will!

I did the stretches yesterday for the first time at the gym, and they were, well, boring. The weird thing about ITBS is that it doesn’t have a trigger of “oww that hurts” when you press it, so trying to strengthen the whole muscle is all you can do. The muscle goes from your hip pretty much all the way down your leg. Pain at the knee is common. The stretches are very small movements (like leg straight out, flex foot and lift 6 inches, hold 5 seconds. Repeat 20 times). He also cleared me to try and run whenever I want, but in short amounts, like .5 mile- 1 mile and increase if it doesn’t hurt.

If this doesn’t work, the next steps would be actual physical therapy, or a cortisone shot in the area. Ouch!

50 Sit Ups and Push Ups in 50 Days


Another fitness thing I briefly mentioned once here is that since December 1, I have been doing a 50 day challenge of 50 pushups and 50 situps in 50 days, starting at one per day of each. Today is Day 45 so I do 45 of each and tomorrow 46 of each. I think I even surprised myself at sticking to this challenge, set up through my CrossFit gym.

I really like this little addition to my workouts because it takes just a few minutes and it’s something I can count on doing daily. If you miss a day, which I have missed a few, you make them up. So one day last week I had do do about 100 because I missed Days 33 and 34 and then I had to do Day 35 too.

I have noticed that the pushups (which I do from my knees, chest to the ground each time), have gotten remarkably faster and I think my form has improved. My upper body and back seem stronger too. I think a 30 day challenge of one or two movements, like lungest, squats, etc. would be great to keep this going.

Have you done a short term challenge like this?

PS Check back on Tuesday for an ingredient challenge featuring quinoa. The other bloggers are:


Filed Under: Injuries, Running · Tagged With: , ,

Winner winter dinner and a fitness update

January 4, 2011 by 5 Comments

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Welcome to Tuesday, friends. I hope Monday wasn’t too terrible. I don’t mind this week because my birthday is on Thursday! That means Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be fun and busy. Lily (dog) and I are having a joint birthday party. She is turning one on January 17 and I will be much older than that (27 if you’re wondering).
I have another article that went up yesterday for CultureMap about fast food-to-go places in Houston with healthy options. I reviewed what they offer, how they differ from each other, and gave some opinions. Story is here.
Have you tried these places?

A fitness update:

I haven’t talked much about fitness lately, and you may notice that I’m not doing a post about New Year’s resolutions, so here’s a little update on things not related to the kitchen.

Ever since the Dallas Half Marathon last month, my legs haven’t bounced back. I still have terrible pains on the sides of my knees that flare when I run about .5-1.25 miles. I purposely chose a race in early December because I thought having the Christmas holiday to rest and be kind to my body would be helpful and necessary. That was a good idea, and the rest has been great. I haven’t run more than 1.5 miles or picked up a barbell since before Christmas week. It has been very nice to not be sore, not exercise for over an hour, and not be so darn hungry. However, I have been doing yoga, the elliptical, walking, stretching, and the Stairmaster and still exercising 5-6 days per week over the break.

Now that it’s back to working hard, I have told my body I’m ready to run, but my legs are still not. I am definitely not considering the Houston Half Marathon in 4 weeks anymore, and that’s alright. My legs are taking a long time to recover, and it’s given me an opportunity to focus on some other fitness things I like to do, like pushing it hard at Crossfit (before the race, I was wary about being too sore, lifting too heavy, and pushing too hard). I also found a different elliptical machine I like at the gym (I am usually not a fan and find I don’t feel like they’re a great workout), and I added the Stairmaster and jumping rope back at the gym (killers after 5 minutes!). I have also been doing a Crossfit related body weight challenge of doing pushups and situps every single day starting at 1 on December 1 and adding one each day until 50. Today is Day 35 so I do 35 of each.

Fortunately, my leg pains are only related to running and is not bothered on anything else mentioned above, even when I do 70 pound power cleans or box jumps!

I love to run, will hopefully pick it up when my legs feel better, and would like to focus on faster short distances. Until then, no race recaps or long run summaries on here! Hope you’ll stick around for the pretty food pictures.

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Turkey Chili and homemade Cornbread Muffins

A New Year’s Day tradition is to make turkey chili. Here’s my favorite recipe, with the help from a pack of spices. I use ground turkey, but you can do beef or sirloin meat.

I think that chili is a very lean and filling dish. It’s just browned meat with tomato sauce and spices. Not much fat, no butter, little oil. Pretty simple and healthy.

Ingredients:
  • 2 packs (2.5 lbs) Jennie O Lean Ground Turkey Meat
  • 1 box Wick Fowler’s 2 Alarm chili kit (this just has the spices, you could obviously use your own)
  • 8 oz can tomato sauce
  • 16 oz water
  • 1 white onion
  • for toppings: lettuce, tomato, yellow cheese, guacamole
  • The spices in the pack are red pepper, flour, cumin, oregano, chili pepper, dried onions and garlic, paprika, salt.
Instructions:
  • In a large pot, coat with olive oil and sautee an onion.
  • Brown the turkey meat in olive oil and onion until completely cooked.
  • Add 1 can tomato sauce and 2 cans water. Stir well.
  • For the spices, I added all except for half of the red pepper and half of the salt. The box says to adjust the heat by how much red pepper you add.
  • Let simmer on low for 30 minutes.
  • Add the flour with 1/4 C warm water and stir. This is optional, but makes the chili thicker and the perfect consistency in my opinion.
  • Let sit at least 15 more minutes. We cook it earlier in the afternoon and let it sit on low or no heat until it’s time to eat.
  • Top with anything you want!

Cornbread Muffins:

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This recipe was adapted from an Ina Garten one I found online. I cut her recipe in half because it said it was for 12 muffins and there were only two of us. My halved recipe ended up making 12 muffins! So you could cut it in half again (?!) or just make 12 muffins. We froze the rest.

This recipe is not a healthified version. But it was really good!

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 C all purpose flour
  • 1/2 C white sugar
  • 1/2 C cornmeal
  • 1 T baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 C milk
  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 can corn
Instructions:
  • Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately with hand mixer. Pour wet into dry and mix well.
  • In a muffin tin lined with paper cups, pour in batter and bake on 350* for 30 minutes.
  • Let cool and enjoy!
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These were really, really good. Adding the corn made it have a little pop to the bite. The butter made it so fluffy and not dry. And they were perfectly browned on top. A keeper recipe!

Filed Under: Dinner, Injuries, Running, Thoughts · Tagged With: , , ,

Mess and Success

December 17, 2010 by 4 Comments

Happy Friday! Even though I don’t celebrate Christmas, I look forward to it too! I like it when everyone has to slow down after a few long weeks of bustle and buying things. I’m ready for Christmas week. I hope you are too.

Cinnamon Cider Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Pears

While reading one of my favorite sites this week, Emily posted a vegetable recipe using ingredients I had in my kitchen. I love it when that happens and I don’t need to buy one thing. I read it and reread it, but somehow still read one ingredient wrong. And I didn’t realize it until it was too late. Oh well! Here’s what happened:

Click here for the full recipe.

I combined brussels sprouts, one apple, one pear, carrots, and snap peas on the stove and cooked them. My mistake was using apple cider vinegar instead of straight cider. It was kind of a big mistake and left my dish far more vinegar-y than it should have been! But I added some brown sugar to try to fix it and ate it anyway. It didn’t really get fixed. If you make it, use Emily’s instructions! The colors were very pretty together and it had a little sweetness and crunch too. A great way to get in so many fruits and vegetables in one meal!

Everything was fine in this picture. Sizzling away. I added carrots and snap peas to the original recipe.
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And then I had it with a side of brown rice. I would definitely try this again with juice and not vinegar!
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Oats in a Jam Jar

Using the last bit of a jar can become a whole meal. I had a tiny bit of jam left in this jar, so I added yogurt, a small bit of raw oats, a splash of milk and blueberries to the jar and mixed it around. You could do this the night before and let it all come together overnight, and do the same thing in a peanut butter jar.
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I had mine with a banana nut muffin, which was why I was lite on the oats.

Bummer of the Week

I tried yesterday to run on the treadmill. My legs have been feeling pretty good all week (I had a great Crossfit class on Wednesday and set a new PR for a weighted movement. Feels good to finally go up.) so I wanted to give a little jog a try. Unfortunately, my right leg was not interested in participating in this activity, and the pain on the side of me knee started after about one half a mile. That is a big bummer. I stopped running, walked and then moved to the elliptical. At least I got to run the half marathon race, it might be the only one.
What’s your biggest recipe flop?
Filed Under: Breakfast, Dinner, Injuries · Tagged With: ,

My Pesky IT Band

November 21, 2010 by 4 Comments

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, hooray! Lots of cooking, baking, and crowded grocery stores now through December 31. I really liked the comments from Friday’s post about what we’re thankful for. Read it here and leave a comment.

CultureMap story:

I had another piece published over the weekend on CultureMap. If you’re in Houston and not cooking for Thanksgiving, check out the story to see who you can call to make your meal for you.

On the blog:

I played with my blog pages and made the text easier to read. On my About Me page, view my completed published work. The Exercise/Race Recap page has a link to some of my favorite fitness related posts. The Houston page has reviews separated by food or fitness, and the Recipes page has links to all of my all star meals.

Cupping and the Pesky IT Band:


Back story: Two Sundays ago, I ran 10 miles as my last long run for the Dallas Half Marathon in two weeks. My left IT Band was aggravated at Mile 9, and then I took a lot of days off from running and trying to rest the muscle.

The same weekend, Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point hurt her IT Band too. Her husband owns a holistic wellness center and is a doctor of oriental medicine and  recommended cupping on her leg. See her posts here and here to read her explanation of cupping. It’s much more detailed.

Cupping is not a practice by TSA security employees at large airports…it is an ancient practice of placing bulbs on irritated areas on the body to break up the “junk” under the skin. I went to a normal day spa in Houston where they do facials, massages, etc. and also offer cupping as an added service. It was not painful at all, did not involve fire or bruising. The bulbs looked like glass candle votives, and they were moved around my left knee area, above and below the area that it hurt. It felt like a small vacuum was pulling on my skin. It lasted for about 30 minutes.

I won’t say that it didn’t work, because I didn’t think it would be a quick fix, but I was hoping to feel a little release or relaxed muscle. I didn’t feel any different at all. It definitely didn’t hurt anything, but I think the pressure from a deep tissue massage would have felt better and more intense.

A Saturday jog:

Last week I was excited to run for two hours, this weekend I was excited to run for 20 minutes. It is amazing how views change! On Saturday morning, I ran on the treadmill for 20 minutes and didn’t have any pain. Then I did a 60 minute wonderful yoga stretch class with the same instructor that I wrote about here. It was 60 minutes of stretching with a lot of focus on hips, hamstrings and other leg muscles that had no vinyasas or warriors. It’s been really nice to get a great stretch in a different type of class than I’m used to. And I love it when the focus is on leg muscles.

I was very happy for a 20 minute pain free jog, but I am not optimistic that the pain won’t come back. :/ It has been a real bummer.

However, I have realized that the IT Band is not the worst injury you can have. Well it is when you want to run your first half marathon in two weeks that has been on the calendar for 6 months and is something I never thought I’d be able to do…But I can walk, lift weights, do yoga and move without a limp or pain. I promised my legs that I will be nicer to them after the half marathon, but I really want to run this thing.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving week ritual?

We decorate cookies on Wednesday night with the whole family and I can’t wait!

Filed Under: Exercise, Half Marathon, Injuries, Running, Thanksgiving, Thoughts · Tagged With: , , , , ,

Pecan Raisin Pumpkin Muffins

November 16, 2010 by 7 Comments

Running

There were some great and helpful comments from yesterday’s post about IT Band pain. My pain is still here, but only when I try to walk down stairs, which means it’s definitely the IT Band. I am foam rolling, icing, and not running. I hope it goes away, but who knows. 10 miles really did a number on my legs! I was more sore than ever the day after in places like the bottom of my shin and of course the side of my left knee. That was definitely my last long run before 13.1, assuming I am able to run short distances pain free before then too. Oh me…

Pecan Raisin Pumpkin Muffins

Right after I created the recipe for Apple Pumpkin muffins, I thought it would be really good with nuts and raisins. So here are Pecan Raisin Pumpkin Muffins. It is the same base as the ones with apple, but without the apple.

If you have missed any of my other Thanksgiving flavored foods, check out my Triple Pumpkin Scottish Oatmeal, Pumpkin Granola, Butternut Squash Soup, Fall Salad, Roasted Fall Vegetables, or Cranberry Apricot Sauce.

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Ingredients (makes 15 muffins)

  • 2 C whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2/3 C brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 C chopped pecans
  • 1/2 C black raisins, rinsed and dried
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 egg whites (can do 1 egg)
  • 1 C canned pumpkin
  • 1/3 C plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 C unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Combine dry ingredients together, wet ingredients in a different bowl, and then add the dry to the wet. Mix well. Then add pecans and raisins and stir well together. Bake for 30 minutes.

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They have a beautiful orange color and reminded me of carrot cake texture with the nuts and raisins. They weren’t very sweet which makes them a perfect breakfast muffin. And they are also great with a smear of peanut butter or maple pumpkin butter.

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Filed Under: Injuries, Running, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized, Vegetarian · Tagged With: , , , , , ,

An Unperfect 10

November 14, 2010 by 15 Comments

Tyler Florence Talks Turkey

On Saturday, I did one of the coolest things I’ve gotten to do as a food blogger/writer. Food Network chef and super cute cookbook author Tyler Florence came to Houston to do a cooking demo and cookbook signing, and I got to do a short interview with him for CultureMap. I asked one question and he talked for five minutes about how to cook a turkey, and then time was up, so that is what my story was about.

My story on him is linked here. I’m really proud of it! It was fun to research, interivew, and write in a very short period of time.

I need your help!

This morning, I went out for 10 miles, my new longest distance! The Dallas White Rock Half Marathon is three weeks away, and I decided to do my longest run today. Before this one, my longest was 9.3 two weeks ago. The goal was 10 miles, the A+ goal if I was feeling great was 10.5 or 11.

First, I started with a usual breakfast of toast with peanut butter and banana. I forgot I had these cute plates, they’re fun, huh?

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The morning was chilly and cloudy. I was happy about that because I need some practice in cold weather. I wore leggings on the bottom, and a tank top with long sleeved shirt over it, and a hat. At mile 3, I circled back to my car to drop off the hat and long sleeved shirt. It was still chilly without the long sleeved shirt, but I just didn’t want it anymore.

I also wore my SpiBelt which is very handy, but still dorky, in my opinion. I had 3 Shot Bloks in it, $5 and Kleenex. I also wore my Garmin gear and iPod.

None of the miles felt easy, my legs felt heavy, but not painful…until Mile 9.

Other than the last mile, my pace was actually a tad faster than previous long runs. I was trying to stay faster than 12 min/mile, and besides mile 9, I only slowed below it once. So that’s good. And I’m very happy for going 10.1 miles! It was really hard, but I did it.

Now to the really bad last mile…my outer left knee started hurting, and it was a familiar pain from six months ago. When I felt it before, it was during the Bagel Run 10K and it stayed with me the whole race, but I ran through it. After, I realized it was the bottom of my IT Band where it hits the knee. I started foam rolling more, running outside more (because I trained for that race mostly inside), and the pain stayed away until today. I don’t know why it came back, and I don’t know if it will go away.

That is my sad mile 9 story, but the pace wasn’t too slow for a mix of run, walk, and stretch. Right now I’m icing, foam rolling, and will not run for a few days. I guess I’ll see what happens when I start up again and if it comes back. Say a little prayer that it was a one-time flare up and it will go away.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 11:29
Mile 2: 11:48
Mile 3: 11:47
Mile 4: 11:50
Mile 5: 12:07
Mile 6: 11:50
Mile 7: 11:52
Mile 8: 11:45
Mile 9: 11:53
Mile 10:12:19
Mile 10-10.11: 01:21

Total time: 2 hrs, Average heart rate 152, Burned 1060 calories

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At the end, I came home, iced and foam rolled, and then got some lunch. Today was a turkey sandwich and fruit from Brown Bag Deli. Anything tastes good after 10 miles, but I really like Brown Bag.
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If you have tips or encouragement about my annoying misbehaving stubborn left leg, leave a comment!
I will be really sad if it stays around until the Dallas Half and messes up the race.
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Filed Under: Breakfast, Exercise, Half Marathon, Injuries, Lunch, Restaurants, Running · Tagged With: , , , ,
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